Scientists, authors and key figures in teenage education will be travelling to Cambridge this weekend to discuss how popular novels and films such as Twilight and the Harry Potter series can affect adolescent minds.
The three day conference titled 'The Emergent Adult - Adolescent Literature and Culture' is the first of its type in the UK and its main aim is to try and make connections between their own research and the representation of teenagers in books, films and computer games.
Taking place at The Cambridge Research and Teaching Centre for Children's Literature from today until Sunday, the conference will bring some of the biggest names in neuroscience to Cambridge to try and answer once and for all whether the media teenagers consume can genuinely affect their wellbeing and outlook on life.
Professor Maria Nikolajeva of Cambridge University commented: “Teenagers process information and read the world and their environment in a very different way to adults as their brain is in dynamic development. Understanding the chemistry of the brain can help us understand how teenagers are affected by art or literature.”
Further information can be found at the website.
